initiative, kind of doesn't make sense...

[Swordguy]

Define faster. I don't think it changed your movement speed, but you could potentially act earlier as a dagger was a faster weapon to use than a broadsword for example.

You could act faster when using a dagger...as long as you were actually ATTACKING with the dagger, not just casting a spell.

The old trick people tried to use was that a Wizard, with a dagger with a low weapon speed, could apply that weapon speed to his initiative during a round in which he was casting a spell.

What was actually supposed to happen was that everybody declared their actions for the upcoming round, and then rolled init to determine in what order the actions resolved. So if you declared you were casting a spell, you couldn't apply the dagger's weapon speed modifier to your initiative - you had to apply the "casting a spell" modifier.